The Richest City Under the Sun

By Kathryn Hadley | Posted 5th December 2008, 12:36

   

Archaeology Ancient Iran Middle East 

by Derry Nairn

Two centuries before Alexander the Great was born, a pre-Islamic Persian empire was the largest the world had ever seen. Its capital, Persepolis, was known as 'the richest city under the sun', and today is still revealing ancient treasures to archaeologists. George Mason University's History News Network website reports on the news of the recent unearthing of a workers' district outside the city walls. Called Parsa, this 'gritty working-class district' was where the artisans who served Persepolis' rulers may have lived.

One of the directors of the joint Iranian and Italian teams responsible for the find said:

one of the trial trenches yielded a kiln for pottery making, while the other was characterized by the presence of a large number of successive dump pits extremely rich in pottery shards, bricks, charcoal, and bones

The story was first published by Juan Cole's Informed Comment blog, where you can also find an excellent clip from the Persepolis Recreated documentary.